Method of making tension wheels



Nov. 7, 1933. J HECHT 1,934,537

METHOD OF MAKING TENSION WHEELS Filed reb. 5, 1932 INVENTOR 25 spoke inturn, which acts to hold the rim in posipresent the spokes in successionto the spoke 80 Patented Nov. 7, I933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

METHOD OF MAKING TENSION WHEELS Joseph L. HechlgDavenport, Iowa,assignor to French & Hecht, Incorporated, a corporation of IowaApplication February 5, 1932. 7 Serial No. 591,045

Claims. (01. 29 159.o2)

This invention relates to a method of manu- Fig.2 is a sectional view ofthe finished wheel facturing metal wheels and more particularly to on anenlarged scale, showing the head of the wheels of this type whereinthespokes are under spoke seated at the rim, and the shoulder antension. head formation at the hub, and

5 An object of the invention is to produce ametal Figs. 3 to 5 arediagrammatical illustrations of 60 tension wheel by progressivelyinserting, spokes the steps involved in forming the wheel. headed at oneend through corresponding holes Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 showsthe comin the rim and hub, upsetting the other end of ponent parts ofthe wheel consisting of metal rim thespoke endwise to secure it,firmlyto one of 1G, headed spoke 11 and hub 12. The rim and the wheelelements, the last spoke inserted caushub elements are provided withcorresponding 65 ing all of the spokes to seatand become properly spokeholes 13 and 14 through which the spokes tensioned, and the hub and rimmembers c'on are inserted, the hub, of course, being finallysecentrically positioned, the whole series of operacured concentricallywithin the wheel.

tions being carried outwithout previously'requir Referring to Figs. 3 to5, a radially movable 15 ing the hub and rim elements to be fixedlysecured table or floating platform 15.is provided upon inexactconcentric relation. which the hub 12 is fixedly secured. Meansis Afeature of the invention resides in permitting also provided forsupporting the rim 10 in subone of the wheel elements to be freelymovable stantially concentric non-fixed relation with the and initiallypositioning the other in substantially hub, but as this means is notnecessary to a com- 7 concentric relation therewith. Headed spokes pleteunderstanding of the invention, it has not 7 are progressively insertedthrough corresponding been shown in the drawing. If desired, the tableholes in the rim and hub (in the preferred em- 15 in addition to beingmovable radially, may also bodiment of the invention the headed endbeing be rotatable, as might also the means supporting adjacent the rim)and a die clamped to each the rim, so that both may beturned around totion and assists in the forming of .a head and fastening units to belater described. shoulder at the hub, thus fastening the spoke Inassembling the wheel, the headless end of securely thereto. Theformation of the head and the spoke 11 is inserted through thecorrespondshoulder is effected by upsetting the headless end ing holes13 and 14 in the rim and hub, the ofthe spoke. This produces ashortening of the headless end 16 projecting inwardly for some 8 spokewhich displaces the hub toward the rim distance beyond the inner side ofthe hub, and and as each spoke is inserted the rim gradually beingpreferably heated either before or after it assumes a concentricposition with respect to the is-placed in position. A clamping die 17is' prohub, until upon the-insertion of the last spoke vided forsecurely holding the spoke and for the rim and hub becomeabsolutelyconcentric, all assisting in the formation of the head andshoulof the spoke heads seated at the rim and pressure der at the hub.The die further assists in supapplied thereat so as totension thespokes. In porting the rim 10 in position during the fasten-' this waythe. tension wheel is produced. ing of the spoke. b Other objects of theinvention will in part be A head and shoulder forming tool 18 is posi-40 bv and Will in p pp r-hereinafter. tioned inside the hub and socooperates with the The invention accordingly comprises the sevdie 17when moved toward it with sufiiciently eral. ep and the manner 0fassembling the high pressure, that the heated end of the spoke v u partswhich Will be exemplified in the is upset endwise to form the. shoulder19 on the method hereinafter set'forth and the scope of outside of thehub, and the head 20 on the .in-

45 the application of which will be indicated in the side of thehub'(Fig. 4) the spoke in this man claims. ner being firmlysecured tothe hub. The mao a fuller s nding of the nature and teri'al of the spokegoing into theformation of objects of the invention reference should behad the head 20 and Shoulder 19 causes a shortening to the followingdetailed description taken in of the spoke, but as the die 17 remainsstationconnection with the accompanying drawing, in ary, the shorteningcauses adisplacement of the which: hub member toward the'die' and therim mem- Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the disasher. Thisdisplacement is permitted bythe float-.- sembledparts'or members of awheel of a form ing table 15 to which the hub member is clamped suitablefor practicing the method of the invenas shown in Fig. 4. 55 tion; l Thedie 17 and the forming; tool 18 are then removed, anew spoke positionedin the next adjacent holes in rim and hub, and the same processrepeated, and so on, progressively around the wheel until it iscompleted. As each spoke is fastened firmly to the hub, the floatingtable 15 permits the hub to move forward, and as each successive spokeis inserted in the hub, the rim will gradually assume a concentricposition with the hub, until the last spoke is put in, when the hub andrim become absolutely concentric, and the rim pulled inwardly, resultingin a pressure by the rim under all the spoke heads and thereby producinga tension wheel. manner of carrying out the invention. in which thespoke ends will be heated to facilitate upsetting, the spokes will be ofsuch length that the contraction, resulting from passing from a hot to acold state, will finally seat the rim tightly under the outer spokeheads, the last spoke inserted completely putting all the spokes undertension.

The amount of the displacement of the hub toward the rim during theassembly of the Wheel, due to the formation of the head and shoulder andalso due to the contraction of the metal itself upon cooling, may be sogreat as to require a small space left between the head and the outsideof the rim, in order that the tension applied to the spokes upon theinsertion and fastening of the last few will not be so great as todeform and weaken the finished wheel. Obviously, as the insertion of thespokes progresses, the displacement of the hub toward the rim at theparticular spoke being acted upon, gradually seats the heads of all ofthe previously inserted spokes firmly against the rim until the finalspoke is inserted, at which time the rim is moved to absoluteconcentricity with the hub, all the spoke heads seated and equal tensionapplied to the spokes.

' The amount of the spacing previously referred to, depends upon thefollowing factors, namely, theamount that the spoke is shortened duringthe formation of the head and shoulder, at the hub, the amount ofcontraction upon cooling of the metal, and the amount of tension desiredin the spokes of the completed wheel. It is conceivable, of course,-thatthe relation of these factors in some wheels may be such that no spacingor tolerance is required at all.

Fig. 2 shows asectional portion of a completed wheel with the head 21,firmly seated upon the rim l0, and the other end of the spoke fastenedto the hub by the shoulder. 19 and head 20.

It is not essential to the practice of the invention that in thefastening of the free end of the spoke to the adjacent wheel member,there 5; and the spoke stock caused by the headingoperation to expandlaterally and tightly fll the spoke hole, or an enlarged portion of thesame, whereby the spoke will be shortened as before, which, togetherwith contraction ofthe metal on-cooling, will cause a relativedisplacement of the} wheel members toward each other as in the exampleheretofore described, at the same time, however, affording a firm andsecure connection of the spoke with the wheel, and without-the provisionof the external shoulder.

In the preferred,

In describing the method of this invention, the hub element has beendescribed as the one connected to the movable or floating table, butthis is not necessarily so, as the rim element of the wheel could bemade the movable one, and the head and shoulder formed adjacent thiselement.

Furthermore, while the preferable method of procedure has been describedas involving hot working of the spoke elements, the invention is notlimited thereto, but embraces as well the cold working of the parts, i.e., the spokes could be fastened in. place by upsetting withoutpreviously heating the end upon which the upsetting tool acts, althoughthis is not as easy or as practicable as when the parts are worked hot.

Since certain changes may be made in the above method without departingfrom the scope of the invention, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. The method of making tension wheels having a closed rim member andhub member which comprises positioning the hub member within the rimmember, permitting one of said members to be freely movable, insertingthe headless ends of headed spoke members one at a time throughcorresponding holes in said members, and acting upon the ends of thespokes adjacent the freely movable member to shorten the same and fastenthem securely to the movable membeiywhereby the insertion of thelast'spoke by the shortening thereof and the coaction of its head withthe rim will automatically adjust the tension of all the spokes andrender-the hub member and the rim concentric. a

'2. The method of making tension wheels having a closed rim member andhub member which comprises positioning the hub member within the rimmember, permitting one of said members to be freely movable,progressively inserting the headless ends of headed spoke membersthrough corresponding holes in said members, acting upon the ends of thespokes adjacent the movable member to form parts onthe spokes onopposite sides of the movable member, whereby to shorten and fasten thespokes securely to said member, the last of the spokes to be acted uponcausing said movable member to assume a fixed concentric position withrespect to the other member and by its shortening and the coaction ofits head with the rim automatically to adjust the tension in all thespokes.

3. The method of making tension wheels having a closed rim member andhub member which comprises positioning the hub member within the'rimmember, permitting one of said members to be freely movable, insertingthe headless end of a headed spoke member through corresponding holes insaid member with the headless end adjacent the movable member, upsettingsaid headless end in such manner as to form parts on the spoke onopposite sides of the movable member whereby firmly to secure said spokemember to the movable member, said upsetting action resulting in ashortening of the spoke and a displacement of said movable member,progressively inserting similar spokes in said members in like manner tocomplete the wheel, the insertion of the last spoke and the accompanyingmovement of the movable member acting to position the hub and rim memberconcentrically of each other, and to seat the spokes and place themunder tension.

4. The method of making tension wheels having a closed rim member andhub member which comprises positioning the hub member Within the rimmember withthe hub member freely movable, inserting the headless end ofa headed spoke member through a hole in the rim member and then througha hole in the hub member, clamping the spoke outside of the hub member,applying pressure to the end of the spoke within the hub, to upset saidspoke endwise and dispose the metal thereof on both sides of the hub soas to secure said spoke firmly to the hub, said upsetting action beingaccompanied by a displacement of the hub toward the clamp, progressivelyinserting similar spokes in said rim and hub members in like manner tocomplete the wheel, the insertion of the last spoke and the accompanyingmovement of the hub member acting to position it concentrically of therim, seat the spokes and place them under tension.

5. The method of making tension wheels which consists in assembling ahub having spoke holes, within a closed freely movable rim having spokeholes, providing spokes having each a head at one end, inserting theheadless end of a spoke through a hole in the rim and the correspondinghole in the hub, the inner end of said spoke being heated either beforeor after insertion, holding the spoke at a point between the rim andhub, upsetting the inner heated end of the spoke within the hub whileadvancing the hub toward the rim in the upsetting operation, therebyforming parts on the spoke on opposite sides of the hub repeating saidoperations on successive spokes, the length of the spokes being suchthat on the fastening of the last spoke in place, the rim will bebrought into true concentric relation to the hub, and the spokes inpassing from the hot to the cold state will be placed under uniformtension, with the heads on the outer ends of the spokes seated tightlyagainst the outer surface of the rim.

JOSEPH L. HECHT.

V and thereby fastening the spoke to the hub, and I

